Blood Gulch Outpost Alpha
Chapter One: Recon
The com link clicked on. Static made it across the line to Matt Kennings' helmet. "Mic, it's on." Matt said. The static clearing up a bit and Mic or Mike Donald's voice made it to Matt's ears. It was crackled but audible.
"Yup, the squad com link line is set." Mic replied, "Can you see anything from your position?"
Matt who was also referred to as Donkey, was the squad's sniper and he was out on his daily recon patrol. "No," Donkey replied, "No movement on the outer perimeter. They must be inside.
"Well, come back then. No one is out there, there's no point for you to be other there watching dust roll across the gulch." Mic said. Donkey was on the cliff to the left for red base, directly in front of the Blue Army's teleport landing.
"Roger that sir. Packing up and leaving." Donkey picked up his sniper which sat on a tripod and tucked the tripod away into his pack and slowly descended down the cliff. He returned to base. The base was small but adequate for 10 people and a room for mission briefings and other tasks.
Donkey put his sniper away with the other weapons and returned to his bunk. He began reading a book. Several hours passed and Lt. Donnings returned. His bunk was across from Donkey and he sat there busy fiddling with a needler when suddenly a large boom occurred half way across the gulch. The whole base shook.
"What the hell is that?" Donnings asked, "That sounded like a tank shell. Blue doesn't have any tanks, we don't either. Maybe we should get one..."
"Lieutenant I want another recon patrol sent out immediately to figure out what that was." Captain Marks arrived inside the bunker. "I am not taking any chances, I want to know what caused that noise."
"Yes sir." Donnings got up and saluted the Captain as he left, "Donkey take Sanders out to the cave overlooking Blue base and give me a full report by 1200 hours."
"Sir, yes sir!" Donkey saluted Donnings, grabbed his sniper and went looking for Sanders. Sanders was reading a Warthog Manual in a rocket hog and testing a few switches when Donkey arrived.
"Sanders, we are going out on a recon patrol. I need you to take a shot gun and pistol incase we are seen." Donkey explained to Sanders, "Meet me on top of base. I'll set the teleporter coordinates to land us by the caves. We don't want to land in Battle Creek now do we?"
"No Donkey, that's why I should double check those coordinates for you, sir." Sanders said. He got up and put his pistol in its holster and went to get a shotgun.
Upon arriving on top of the base, Sanders checked his ammo and put the shotgun on safety. Donkey was busy setting coordinates. "Goddamn thing! I don't want Battle Creek! I want 0 comma 2 comma 4! I want to be teleported over there! Not half way across Halo!" Donkey was frustrated.
Sanders checked his ammo one more time and cleaned his shotgun. It was 1000. Then it was 1030 hours. Donkey went on to fiddle with the teleporter settings. Sanders looked at his watch impatiently.
"Sir, would you like some help with that?" Sanders offered at 1115 hours.
"No thank you," Donkey replied, "I am capable of doing this!"
By this time, Peterson the radio man appeared on top of base. "What's the hold up corporal?" He asked. "H-Hour for you patrol was 1000 hours. Why is taking so long? I have to get a new radio over at base! I got to use the teleporter and teleport to base."
"Sorry sir, I am having a bit of technical difficulty with these controls." Donkey explained.
"Let me see that."
Blue Base
Several Hours Ago
"This is Pelican one-ohh-nine please clear the LZ for the drop." The pelican radioed over. Larry Pyle or Gomer replied over the radio, "LZ is clear, you may proceed."
"Drop off of one Scorpion tank initiated," The pelican radioed over. The rest of the blue squad were behind base, not visible from the cliff. The pelican dipped a bit lower and the cargo haul opened. It landed completely with the haul open and a new Scorpion tank in the back.
The officer from the 10th Armored drove the Scorpion out of the haul and handed a manual and the tank over to Lt. Kerkenson. Elaine took the manual and thanked the officer. The pelican radioed over one more time to Gomer and left.
"Ma'am permission to speak?" Pvt. Jack "Bull" Johnson asked Elaine.
"Go a head Bull,"
"None of us here knows how to use a tank," He stated, "So why do we need it?"
"Because it looks shiny and it scares the shit out of other people without a tank," Harry "Bob" Boberton replied.
"That and the fact that the tank gives us an advantage in combat." Elaine explained.
"But Bull is right!" Striker piped up, his brown eye glittering, "None of us can drive it!"
Murmurs of agreement swept over the squad. "That's why we have a manual!" Bob said in a matter of fact voice.
"So you drive it Bob!" Striker proposed. "Raise your hand if you want Bob to drive." Everyone but Bob put their hands up.
"Oh, fine you bloody bastards!" Bob grabbed the manual and hoped into the driver seat. "Okay let's see here, to start engines press the red button." Bob looked at the controls, "The red button!? There are at lease 5 red buttons! Great! Okay...Eni Mini Meni....MO!" Bob landed on the 4th button. Unknown to Bob but written underneath the button were the words "Fire Shell". "Okay this button then."
KABOOOMM!!!!!
"Shit."
Red Base
Present Time
Peterson, Sanders and Donkey were all now trying to set coordinates to use the teleporter.
"Try this button," Donkey suggested.
"No that's the invert time button, we don't want to invert time! We want 0 comma 2 comma 4!" Peterson exclaimed. "This is hopeless! Can't you just go there on foot? It's not hard to walk across the gulch."
"It takes too long. Captain wants my recon report by 1200 hours, I got an hour left!" Donkey said looking at his watch apprehensively.
"I think Peterson is right, we ought to walk there," Sanders said, "After all getting something is better than nothing."
"I know!" Donkey suddenly shouted. "We can take a hog!"
"No you can not use this hog!" Donnings stated sternly.
"Why not?" Donkey asked, perplexed by Donning's remark.
"Because I love my hog!" Donnings petted the hog and gave it a hug. "My sweet little wart hog, I love you!"
"But sir, I thought you were married." Sanders said, "Are you having an affair with the Squad's hog?"
"Affair? Hog?" Donnings jumped up, "NO! NO! What are you talking about! I do not love the hog!" He cried! His large blue eyes alert at the fact that someone might be on to his secret.
"So...why can't we take it?"
"Fine! Take it! Take it!" Donnings let go of the hog. Donkey put his sniper next to his seat and jumped in, Sanders sat in the passenger seat. "Thank you ,sir!" And with that Donkey stepped on the gas pedal and roared off leaving a trail of dust.
"Farewell, my sweet love!" Donnings waved. He sighed and returned to his bunk to fiddle with the needler, still saddened by the leaving of the hog.
"TURN!" Sanders cried as the hog almost collided with a massive rock.
"Would ya calm down! I know what I'm doing!" Another sharp turn and Sanders almost fell out of the hog.
"Yeah right," Sanders regained control and settled back into the hog. The hog reached the caves. Donkey continued to drive it up to the cliff.
"Donkey, what are you doing?"
"Driving,"
"You are going to get us crushed and kill Lieutenant Donning's hog."
"Really?"
"Yes you should stop,"
"Okay."
Donkey stopped the hog and got out, so did Sanders. The walked to the end of the cliff and into the mini tunnel and out to the exit facing Blue Base.
Donkey laid down his sniper on the tripod and laid down prone. So did Sanders but he looked through his pistol scope.
"Mic, this is Donkey, do you copy?" Donkey patched a line through using the squad com link.
"I copy, what do you see?" Mic asked.
"They are all out back. Standing next to a tank. They are all talking, arguing over something. One of the guys is in the tank and shooting the machine gun at the gulch walls."
"So they got a tank?" Mic asked.
"Yup, a Scorpion."
"Get out of there before someone sees you and blows both of you to bits!" Mic instructed.
"Roger that." Once again Donkey packed up his sniper and scope and Sanders flicked the safety on the shotgun.
They returned to find the warthog gone, it was no longer where they left it. "Where is it?" Sanders asked.
"Uh, I really don't know."
"I think it fell of the side, you parked it pretty badly." Sanders pointed out. Donkey looked over the edge.
"Yeah it fell of all right, the LAAG is okay, it looks fine." Donkey said. "Let's get it. And get back to base."
"Yeah."
They fetched the hog and found it to be toppled over with a few scratches and a broken mirror but other than that it was fine. They drove past the massive rock and another sharp turn. They were almost at base when suddenly the hog spurted and coughed. It stopped and shook.
Donnings hearing the hog rushed outside. He reached the base exit in time to see the hog fall into millions of pieces.
"Oops." Donkey whispered, he held up a tiny screw which he detached form the hog because it was loose.
"NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Donnings screamed.
Well the end of the first chapter! Hope you liked it!